by a high level of foreign trade. During the early 1990s, Chile's
reputation as a role model for economic reform was strengthened when
the democratic government of Patricio AYLWIN - which took over from
the military in 1990 - deepened the economic reform initiated by the
military government. Growth in real GDP averaged 8% during the period
1991-1997, but fell to half that level in 1998 because of tight
monetary policies implemented to keep the current account deficit in
check and lower export earnings - the latter a product of the global
financial crisis. A severe drought exacerbated the recession in 1999,
reducing crop yields and causing hydroelectric shortfalls and
rationing, and Chile experienced negative economic growth for the
first time in more than 15 years. Despite the effects of the
recession, Chile maintained its reputation for strong financial
institutions and sound policy that have given it the strongest
sovereign bond rating in South America. By the end of 1999, exports
and economic activity had begun to recover, and a return to strong
growth in 2000 is likely. The inauguration of Ricardo LAGOS in March
2000, succeeding Eduardo FREI, will keep the presidency in the hands
of the center-left Concertacion coalition that has held office since
the return of civilian rule in 1990.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $185.1 billion (1999 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: -1% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $12,400 (1999 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 6%
industry: 33%
services: 61% (1999)
Population below poverty line: 22% (1998 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 1.2%
highest 10%: 41.3% (1998)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.4% (1999 est.)
Labor force: 5.8 million (1999 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 14%, industry 27%, services
59% (1997 est.)
Unemployment rate: 9% (1999)
Budget:
revenues: $17 billion
expenditures: $17 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1998
est.)
Industries: copper, other minerals, foodstuffs, fish processing, iron
and steel, wood and wood products, transport equipment, cement,
textiles
Industrial production growth rate: -1.3% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production: 37.49 billion kWh (1999)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 50%
hydro: 50%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (December 1999)
Electricity - consumption: 26.665 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (1998)
Agriculture - products: wheat, corn, grapes, beans, sugar beets,
potatoes, fruit; beef, poultry, wool; fish; timber
Exports: $15.6 billion (f.o.b., 1999)
Exports - commodities: copper, fish, fruits, paper and pulp, chemicals
Exports - partners: EU 27%, US 16%, Japan 14%, Brazil 6%, Argentina 5%
(1998)
Imports: $13.9 billion (c.i.f., 1999)
Imports - commodities: consumer goods, chemicals, motor vehicles,
fuels, electrical machinery, heavy industrial machinery, food
Imports - partners: US 24%, EU 23%, Argentina 11%, Brazil 6%, Japan
6%, Mexico 5% (1998)
Debt - external: $39 billion (1999)
Economic aid - recipient: ODA, $50.3 million (1996 est.)
Currency: 1 Chilean peso (Ch$) = 100 centavos
Exchange rates: Chilean pesos (Ch$) per US$1 - 520.45 (January 2000),
508.78 (1999), 460.29 (1998), 419.30 (1997), 412.27 (1996), 396.77
(1995)
Fiscal year: calendar year
@Chile:Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 2.603 million (1998)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 197,300 (1995)
Telephone system: modern system based on extensive microwave radio
relay facilities
domestic: extensive microwave radio relay links; domestic satellite
system with 3 earth stations
international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 180 (eight inactive), FM 64, shortwave 17
(one inactive) (1998)
Radios: 5.18 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 63 (plus 121 repeaters) (1997)
Televisions: 3.15 million (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 26 (1999)
@Chile:Transportation
Railways:
total: 6,782 km
broad gauge: 3,743 km 1.676-m gauge (1,653 km electrified)
narrow gauge: 116 km 1.067-m gauge; 2,923 km 1.000-m gauge (40 km
electrified) (1995)
Highways:
total: 79,800 km
paved: 11,012 km
unpaved: 68,788 km (1996 est.)
Waterways: 725 km
Pipelines: crude oil 755 km; petroleum products 785 km; natural gas
320 km
Ports and harbors: Antofagasta, Arica, Chanaral, Coquimbo, Iquique,
Puerto Montt, Punta Arenas, San Antonio, San Vicente, Talcahuano,
Valparaiso
Merchant marine:
total: 45 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 580,749 GRT/860,034 DWT
ships by type: bulk 11, cargo 9, chemical tanker 8, container 2,
liquified gas 2, passenger 3, petroleum tanker 4, roll-on/roll-off 4,
vehicle carrier 2 (1999 est.)
Airports: 370 (1999 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 62
over 3,047 m: 6
2,438 to 3,047 m: 6
1,524 to 2,437 m: 20
914 to 1,523 m: 20
under 914 m: 10 (1999 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 308
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 4
1,524 to 2,437 m: 12
914 to 1,523 m: 68
under 914 m: 223 (1999 est.)
@Chile:Military
Military branches: Army, Navy (includes Naval Air, Coast Guard, and
Marines), Air Force, Carabineros of Chile (National Police),
Investigations Police
note: normally administered by Ministry of Interior; in times of
national emergency, Carabineros and Investigations Police are
considered part of the military
Military manpower - military age: 19 years of age
Military manpower - availability:
males age 15-49: 4,012,900 (2000 est.)
Military manpower - fit for military service:
males age 15-49: 2,973,246 (2000 est.)
Military manpower - reaching military age annually:
males: 136,912 (2000 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $2.5 billion (FY99)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 3.1% (FY99)
@Chile:Transnational Issues
Disputes - international: Bolivia has wanted a sovereign corridor to
the South Pacific Ocean since the Atacama area was lost to Chile in
1884; dispute with Bolivia over Rio Lauca water rights; territorial
claim in Antarctica (Chilean Antarctic Territory) partially overlaps
Argentine and British claims
Illicit drugs: a growing transshipment country for cocaine destined
for the US and Europe; economic prosperity has made Chile more
attractive to traffickers seeking to launder drug profits; imported
precursors passed on to Bolivia; domestic cocaine consumption is
rising
______________________________________________________________________
CHINA
@China:Introduction
Background: For centuries China has stood as a leading civilization,
outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences. But in the
first half of the 20th century, China was beset by major famines,
civil unrest, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World
War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established a dictatorship
that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over
everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After
1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping decentralized economic decision
making. Output quadrupled in the next 20 years and China now has the
world's second largest GDP. Political controls remain tight even while
economic controls continue to weaken.
@China:Geography
Location: Eastern Asia, bordering the East China Sea, Korea Bay,
Yellow Sea, and South China Sea, between North Korea and Vietnam
Geographic coordinates: 35 00 N, 105 00 E
Map references: Asia
Area:
total: 9,596,960 sq km
land: 9,326,410 sq km
water: 270,550 sq km
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than the US
Land boundaries:
total: 22,143.34 km
border countries: Afghanistan 76 km, Bhutan 470 km, Burma 2,185 km,
Hong Kong 30 km, India 3,380 km, Kazakhstan 1,533 km, North Korea
1,416 km, Kyrgyzstan 858 km, Laos 423 km, Macau 0.34 km, Mongolia
4,673 km, Nepal 1,236 km, Pakistan 523 km, Russia (northeast) 3,605
km, Russia (northwest) 40 km, Tajikistan 414 km, Vietnam 1,281 km
Coastline: 14,500 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone: 24 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm or to the edge of the continental margin
territorial sea: 12 nm
Climate: extremely diverse; tropical in south to subarctic in north
Terrain: mostly mountains, high plateaus, deserts in west; plains,
deltas, and hills in east
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Turpan Pendi -154 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.)
Natural resources: coal, iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, mercury,
tin, tungsten, antimony, manganese, molybdenum, vanadium, magnetite,
aluminum, lead, zinc, uranium, hydropower potential (world's largest)
Land use:
arable land: 10%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 43%
forests and woodland: 14%
other: 33% (1993 est.)
Irrigated land: 498,720 sq km (1993 est.)
Natural hazards: frequent typhoons (about five per year along southern
and eastern coasts); damaging floods; tsunamis; earthquakes; droughts
Environment - current issues: air pollution (greenhouse gases, sulfur
dioxide particulates) from reliance on coal, produces acid rain; water
shortages, particularly in the north; water pollution from untreated
wastes; deforestation; estimated loss of one-fifth of agricultural
land since 1949 to soil erosion and economic development;
desertification; trade in endangered species
Environment - international agreements:
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic Treaty,
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94,
Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Nuclear Test
Ban
Geography - note: world's fourth-largest country (after Russia,
Canada, and US)
@China:People
Population: 1,261,832,482 (July 2000 est.)
Age structure:
0-14 years: 25% (male 168,040,006; female 152,826,953)
15-64 years: 68% (male 439,736,737; female 413,454,673)
65 years and over: 7% (male 41,200,297; female 46,573,816) (2000 est.)
Population growth rate: 0.9% (2000 est.)
Birth rate: 16.12 births/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Death rate: 6.73 deaths/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.4 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2000 est.)
Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.15 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.1 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2000 est.)
Infant mortality rate: 28.92 deaths/1,000 live births (2000 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 71.38 years
male: 69.6 years
female: 73.33 years (2000 est.)
Total fertility rate: 1.82 children born/woman (2000 est.)
Nationality:
noun: Chinese (singular and plural)
adjective: Chinese
Ethnic groups: Han Chinese 91.9%, Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan,
Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%
Religions: Daoist (Taoist), Buddhist, Muslim 2%-3%, Christian 1%
(est.)
note: officially atheist
Languages: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the
Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghaiese), Minbei (Fuzhou),
Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, Gan, Hakka dialects, minority
languages (see Ethnic groups entry)
Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 81.5%
male: 89.9%
female: 72.7% (1995 est.)
@China:Government
Country name:
conventional long form: People's Republic of China
conventional short form: China
local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo
local short form: Zhong Guo
abbreviation: PRC
Data code: CH
Government type: Communist state
Capital: Beijing
Administrative divisions: 23 provinces (sheng, singular and plural), 5
autonomous regions* (zizhiqu, singular and plural), and 4
municipalities** (shi, singular and plural); Anhui, Beijing**,
Chongqing**, Fujian, Gansu, Guangdong, Guangxi*, Guizhou, Hainan,
Hebei, Heilongjiang, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Jilin,
Liaoning, Nei Mongol*, Ningxia*, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong,
Shanghai**, Shanxi, Sichuan, Tianjin**, Xinjiang*, Xizang* (Tibet),
Yunnan, Zhejiang
note: China considers Taiwan its 23rd province; see separate entries
for the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau
Independence: 221 BC (unification under the Qin or Ch'in Dynasty 221
BC; Qing or Ch'ing Dynasty replaced by the Republic on 12 February
1912; People's Republic established 1 October 1949)
National holiday: National Day, 1 October (1949)
Constitution: most recent promulgation 4 December 1982
Legal system: a complex amalgam of custom and statute, largely
criminal law; rudimentary civil code in effect since 1 January 1987;
new legal codes in effect since 1 January 1980; continuing efforts are
being made to improve civil, administrative, criminal, and commercial
law
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President JIANG Zemin (since 27 March 1993) and Vice
President HU Jintao (since 16 March 1998)
head of government: Premier ZHU Rongji (since 18 March 1998); Vice
Premiers QIAN Qichen (since 29 March 1993), LI Lanqing (29 March
1993), WU Bangguo (since 17 March 1995), and WEN Jiabao (since 18
March 1998)
cabinet: State Council appointed by the National People's Congress
(NPC)
elections: president and vice president elected by the National
People's Congress for five-year terms; elections last held 16-18 March
1998 (next to be held NA March 2003); premier nominated by the
president, confirmed by the National People's Congress
election results: JIANG Zemin reelected president by the Ninth
National People's Congress with a total of 2,882 votes (36 delegates
voted against him, 29 abstained, and 32 did not vote); HU Jintao
elected vice president by the Ninth National People's Congress with a
total of 2,841 votes (67 delegates voted against him, 39 abstained,
and 32 did not vote)
Legislative branch: unicameral National People's Congress or Quanguo
Renmin Daibiao Dahui (2,979 seats; members elected by municipal,
regional, and provincial people's congresses to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held NA December 1997-NA February 1998 (next to be
held late 2002-NA March 2003)
election results: percent of vote - NA; seats - NA
Judicial branch: Supreme People's Court, judges appointed by the
National People's Congress
Political parties and leaders: Chinese Communist Party or CCP [JIANG
Zemin, General Secretary of the Central Committee]; eight registered
small parties controlled by CCP
Political pressure groups and leaders: no substantial political
opposition groups exist, although the government has identified the
Falungong sect and the China Democracy Party as potential rivals
International organization participation: AfDB, APEC, AsDB, BIS, CCC,
CDB (non-regional), ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU,
ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat,
Interpol, IOC, ISO, ITU, LAIA (observer), MINURSO, NAM (observer),
OPCW, PCA, UN, UN Security Council, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR,
UNIDO, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNTSO, UNU, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
(applicant), ZC
Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador LI Zhaoxing
chancery: 2300 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
telephone: (202) 328-2500
consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, and San
Francisco
Diplomatic representation from the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Joseph W. PRUEHER
embassy: Xiu Shui Bei Jie 3, 100600 Beijing
mailing address: PSC 461, Box 50, FPO AP 96521-0002
telephone: (10) 6532-3831
FAX: (10) 6532-6422
consulate(s) general: Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Shenyang
Flag description: red with a large yellow five-pointed star and four
smaller yellow five-pointed stars (arranged in a vertical arc toward
the middle of the flag) in the upper hoist-side corner
@China:Economy
Economy - overview: Beginning in late 1978 the Chinese leadership has
been moving the economy from a sluggish Soviet-style centrally planned
economy to a more market-oriented economy but still within a rigid
political framework of Communist Party control. To this end the
authorities have switched to a system of household responsibility in
agriculture in place of the old collectivization, increased the
authority of local officials and plant managers in industry, permitted
a wide variety of small-scale enterprise in services and light
manufacturing, and opened the economy to increased foreign trade and
investment. The result has been a quadrupling of GDP since 1978. In
1999, with its 1.25 billion people but a GDP of just $3,800 per
capita, China became the second largest economy in the world after the
US. Agricultural output doubled in the 1980s, and industry also posted
major gains, especially in coastal areas near Hong Kong and opposite
Taiwan, where foreign investment helped spur output of both domestic
and export goods. On the darker side, the leadership has often
experienced in its hybrid system the worst results of socialism
(bureaucracy, lassitude, corruption) and of capitalism (windfall gains
and stepped-up inflation). Beijing thus has periodically backtracked,
retightening central controls at intervals. In late 1993 China's
leadership approved additional long-term reforms aimed at giving still
more play to market-oriented institutions and at strengthening the
center's control over the financial system; state enterprises would
continue to dominate many key industries in what was now termed "a
socialist market economy". In 1995-99 inflation dropped sharply,
reflecting tighter monetary policies and stronger measures to control
food prices. At the same time, the government struggled to (a) collect
revenues due from provinces, businesses, and individuals; (b) reduce
corruption and other economic crimes; and (c) keep afloat the large
state-owned enterprises, most of which had not participated in the
vigorous expansion of the economy and many of which had been losing
the ability to pay full wages and pensions. From 50 to 100 million
surplus rural workers are adrift between the villages and the cities,
many subsisting through part-time low-paying jobs. Popular resistance,
changes in central policy, and loss of authority by rural cadres have
weakened China's population control program, which is essential to
maintaining growth in living standards. Another long-term threat to
continued rapid economic growth is the deterioration in the
environment, notably air pollution, soil erosion, and the steady fall
of the water table especially in the north. China continues to lose
arable land because of erosion and economic development. The next few
years will witness increasing tensions between a highly centralized
political system and an increasingly decentralized economic system.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $4.8 trillion (1999 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 7% (1999 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,800 (1999 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 15%
industry: 35%
services: 50% (1999 est.)
Population below poverty line: 10% (1999 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 2.2%
highest 10%: 30.9% (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): -1.3% (1999 est.)
Labor force: 700 million (1998 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 50%, industry 24%, services
26% (1998)
Unemployment rate: urban unemployment roughly 10%; substantial
unemployment and underemployment in rural areas (1999 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA, including capital expenditures of $NA
Industries: iron and steel, coal, machine building, armaments,
textiles and apparel, petroleum, cement, chemical fertilizers,
footwear, toys, food processing, automobiles, consumer electronics,
telecommunications
Industrial production growth rate: 8.8% (1999 est.)
Electricity - production: 1.16 trillion kWh (1998)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 80.31%
hydro: 18.46%
nuclear: 1.23%
other: 0% (1998)
Electricity - consumption: 1.014 trillion kWh (1998)
Electricity - exports: 7.935 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity - imports: 89 million kWh (1998)
Agriculture - products: rice, wheat, potatoes, sorghum, peanuts, tea,
millet, barley, cotton, oilseed; pork; fish
Exports: $194.9 billion (f.o.b., 1999)
Exports - commodities: machinery and equipment; textiles and clothing,
footwear, toys and sporting goods; mineral fuels, chemicals
Exports - partners: US 22%, Hong Kong 19%, Japan 17%, Germany, South
Korea, Netherlands, UK, Singapore, Taiwan (1999)
Imports: $165.8 billion (c.i.f., 1999)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, plastics, chemicals,
iron and steel, mineral fuels
Imports - partners: Japan 20%, US 12%, Taiwan 12%, South Korea 10%,
Germany, Hong Kong, Russia, Singapore (1999)
Debt - external: $159 billion (1998 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $NA
Currency: 1 yuan = 10 jiao
Exchange rates: yuan per US$1 - 8.2793 (January 2000), 8.2783 (1999),
8.2790 (1998), 8.2898 (1997), 8.3142 (1996), 8.3514 (1995)
note: beginning 1 January 1994, the People's Bank of China quotes the
midpoint rate against the US dollar based on the previous day's
prevailing rate in the interbank foreign exchange market
Fiscal year: calendar year
@China:Communications
Telephones - main lines in use: 110 million (1999 est.)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 23.4 million (1998)
Telephone system: domestic and international services are increasingly
available for private use; unevenly distributed domestic system serves
principal cities, industrial centers, and many towns
domestic: interprovincial fiber-optic trunk lines and cellular
telephone systems have been installed; a domestic satellite system
with 55 earth stations is in place
international: satellite earth stations - 5 Intelsat (4 Pacific Ocean
and 1 Indian Ocean), 1 Intersputnik (Indian Ocean region) and 1
Inmarsat (Pacific and Indian Ocean regions); several international
fiber-optic links to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Russia, and
Germany
Radio broadcast stations: AM 369, FM 259, shortwave 45 (1998)
Radios: 417 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 3,240 (of which 209 are operated by
China Central Television, 31 are provincial TV stations and nearly
3,000 are local city stations) (1997)
Televisions: 400 million (1997)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 3 (1999)
@China:Transportation
Railways:
total: 65,650 km (including 5,400 km of provincial "local" rails)
standard gauge: 62,050 km 1.435-m gauge (12,150 km electrified; 20,250
km double track)
narrow gauge: 3,600 km 0.750-m gauge local industrial lines (1998
est.)
note: a new total of 68,000 km has been estimated for early 1999
Highways:
total: 1.21 million km
paved: 271,300 km (with at least 24,474 km of expressways)
unpaved: 938,700 km (1998 est.)
Waterways: 110,000 km navigable (1999)
Pipelines: crude oil 9,070 km; petroleum products 560 km; natural gas
9,383 km (1998)
Ports and harbors: Dalian, Fuzhou, Guangzhou, Haikou, Huangpu,
Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nantong, Ningbo, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Shanghai,
Shantou, Tianjin, Xiamen, Xingang, Yantai, Zhanjiang
Merchant marine:
total: 1,746 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 16,637,023
GRT/24,552,567 DWT
ships by type: barge carrier 2, bulk 325, cargo 840, chemical tanker
21, combination bulk 11, combination ore/oil 1, container 125,
liquified gas 20, multi-functional large load carrier 5, passenger 8,
passenger/cargo 46, petroleum tanker 251, refrigerated cargo 24,
roll-on/roll-off 21, short-sea passenger 43, specialized tanker 2,
vehicle carrier 1 (1999 est.)
Airports: 206 (1996 est.)
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 192
over 3,047 m: 18
2,438 to 3,047 m: 65
1,524 to 2,437 m: 90
914 to 1,523 m: 13
under 914 m: 6 (1996 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 14
1,524 to 2,437 m: 8
914 to 1,523 m: 5
under 914 m: 1 (1996 est.)
@China:Military